J has started a lacrosse clinic at school. I know - isn't that ridiculous? A kindergarten lacrosse clinic (to be fair, pre-first and first graders are involved too). Can't you just picture tiny girls with lacrosse sticks as big as they are running around a field, falling down and whacking each other in the head?
I always thought I would wait to put J in any kind of sport because I felt that parents who put their kids on teams before, say, second grade were pushy and overly ambitious. They are the kinds of parents who use flashcards for reading and math on their toddlers, and want their children to grow up bilingual. Don't they know all that time spent cheering on their 6-year-old from the sideline could be spent sitting in front of the TV, eating Cheetos, and yelling, "Hey! Don't set your hair on fire! Come pour Mommy a glass of wine!"?
As much as I work with J outside of school, I just never saw myself as that pushy parent. And yet... When J started at this school, I knew there would be some pressure to keep up with the Jonses, and I was not far off the mark. I just didn't realize I'd cave so easily.
"Your daughter isn't signing up for the clinic?"
"Well, I'm not sure yet. She just seems so young..."
"That's true, but what if she wants to start lacrosse in second grade, and all the other kids have been doing it for years? She might feel behind."
Knife, insert into heart. Next thing I know, we are at some chi-chi specialty store purchasing hundreds of dollars of equipment for a child who may or may not ever play this sport again. Sticks (one for J, and one for K in case she wants to help J practice), cleats, goggles, mouth guards, socks, shorts, etc. Spending money has never been comfortable for me, but JBL was there to smooth things over, even suggesting I should get myself a new pair of running shoes while we were there. K was encouraging and supportive. "I can't wait to watch you play!" What would I do without these people?
At the first practice, I noted J was one of a handful of kids who didn't have a special carrying case for her stick. I thought to myself how silly that was - a case! - but at the same time struggled with a pang of concern. NO, dammit, it is OK for her to not have every last thing everyone else does. It's not like a new car for your teenager, but it all starts somewhere, doesn't it??
Mentally calmed, I strolled over to another mom watching the girls getting oriented with their new sticks. I looked at her daughter and was struck by something - a change from the beginning of the year.
"Wow," I noted, "Riya is so tall!"
The mom nodded, smiling. And all at once I realized how much time has passed. Last year, I was beside myself with worry about how J would handle kindergarten. But she has done beautifully, and has blossomed in ways I never thought possible. What a milestone!
That thought brought to mind how much J has accomplished between 5 and 6. She now rides a bike without training wheels. She takes showers. She lost her first tooth, had her first bout of the stomach flu, and questioned the existence of Santa Claus. She totally understands strategy in card games, and is thrilled with puns. She has come a long way with swimming, reading and math, and has begun to demonstrate some real artistic ability. Long-gone first days of preschool, riding a two-wheeler, pull-ups, needing help getting dressed or brushing teeth. Barely a distant memory are first teeth, first steps, first words. Amazing. Now what?
Far ahead I see the rest of elementary school, with science projects, field trips and plays. Possibly there is a first crush. Hopefully there are new interests not yet thought of, and good kids that stay friends and look out for each other along the way. It can be hard with girls, I know.
Beyond that is almost impossible to imagine. J as big as K? Past the point of silliness and wiggles at bedtime? Past Nick Jr. and Winnie the Pooh? Beyond the time when there is nothing better than running in the grass with no shoes on? Past the time where even she finds it delightful to rub her plump little belly?
All these changes will come in the blink of an eye, but for now we have a break in the action. It's a delightful place in time.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
J Funnies - March 2010
"Mom, at school they have the BEST hamburgers."
"Really?"
"Yep. You know why they call them just 'burgers'?"
"Why is that?"
"Because they don't have any cheese on them."
"Hmm. Makes sense. What makes them so good?"
"Ketchup! And the meat."
Ah.
"Really?"
"Yep. You know why they call them just 'burgers'?"
"Why is that?"
"Because they don't have any cheese on them."
"Hmm. Makes sense. What makes them so good?"
"Ketchup! And the meat."
Ah.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Change in the weather
A cold front is coming through. After putting J to bed, I step outside to catch the last of the unseasonably mild air.
The rolling hill behind the house is no longer vivid green. It is muted and sleepy. The twilight sky is steel-gray. The wind is roaring in from the West, pushing insistently through the trees. The branches are bare and black in the fading light, like nerve endings reaching up to the clouds. The wind chimes clang restlessly. The last of the evening robins laugh nervously. Within each break between the gusts I hear the peepers down in the stream calling out to no one in particular. Their jocularity is drowned out by the next thrust of heavy breeze.
Maybe it's because I know this is Spring the changing weather doesn't fill me with dread. I smile and breathe deeply the gathering night.
Clang, clang, clang.
The rolling hill behind the house is no longer vivid green. It is muted and sleepy. The twilight sky is steel-gray. The wind is roaring in from the West, pushing insistently through the trees. The branches are bare and black in the fading light, like nerve endings reaching up to the clouds. The wind chimes clang restlessly. The last of the evening robins laugh nervously. Within each break between the gusts I hear the peepers down in the stream calling out to no one in particular. Their jocularity is drowned out by the next thrust of heavy breeze.
Maybe it's because I know this is Spring the changing weather doesn't fill me with dread. I smile and breathe deeply the gathering night.
Clang, clang, clang.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Ostensibly - wine notes 3/24/10
JBL loves wine, as I have mentioned in the past, and I am an obscenely lucky beneficiary of his Habit. It all started with a stint in St. Louis and a phenomenal restaurant in their version of Little Italy, but I will let him tell you about that some other time.
JBL's life ambitions have taken him, among other places, on the roller coaster highs and lows of the tech business. During these times we squandered many a fantastic vintage, over pizza for instance, for the simple reason that we could. Also because we had the world at our feet. And we had the rest of our lives ahead of us.
But then there were the not-so-good times (hello, 1999). We sacrificed many things, but wine was never on the list. These were times when JBL perfected the purchase of the Case of Wines Under $10. One shining star of this more frugal time is the Montes Malbec. This Chilean take on a Bordeaux varietal is intense and plummy and spicy and wonderful. See how technical I can be? I am aware that I do winespeak a disservice, but I know a flexible player when I taste one.
So the Malbec. We enjoyed a bottle over the past two evenings with two verrry different meals, and enjoyed it immeasurably with both. First up, an Asian tour de force, a black cod dish with two sauces. The flavors exploded off the plate and brought out the wine's ability to match spice, and to counter heat. Amazing. We literally took a sip after a bite of fish, and looked at each other with a 'wow' look.
But tonight the leftover paired equally well with a pizza that I have been craving for weeks. Margherita. Perhaps it was the stint of unseasonably warm weather we've enjoyed of late. Maybe it was a desire for something light and, well, un-meat-related. Whatever the cause, I have been fantasizing about this dish, and after J went to bed tonight we quenched my thirst. Last summer we tried various permutations, and I finally hit it out of the park with this latest recipe. And the Malbec? It stepped back and offered restrained fruity notes in support of the more subtle flavors, acting more like a soft Chianti than a powerhouse super-Tuscan.
So go buy the Montes. You will not be disappointed. And if you want the margherita recipe, here it is:
Pizza Dough (sorry if I posted this already - this is a Giada De Laurentiis recipe)
3/4 C warm water (105-115 degrees F)
1 envelope active dry yeast
2+ C AP flour
1 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt (I use fine sea salt)
3 TBSP olive oil
Warm the water in the microwave (I run mine on high for 30 seconds to get to the required temperature), and whisk in the yeast. Let stand for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, lightly oil a large bowl. In a food processor, pulse 2 C flour, sugar and salt to combine. After the yeast slurry has bloomed, add it and the 3 TBSP olive oil to the flour mixture, and process til a sticky dough forms. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently til dough is smooth, adding flour by tablespoonfuls if too sticky, about 1 minute. Transfer dough to prepared bowl, turning to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and store in a warm, draft-free area to rise til doubled in size, about an hour. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and prep the pizza topping:
2-ish vine-ripened tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 12 oz. package of fresh mozzarella, cut into 1 inch chunks - you won't use it all
Handful of fresh basil, roughly torn
1 medium lemon (you'll also need a zester or the fine side of a box grater)
Olive oil
Fine sea salt
After the dough has risen, punch it down and divide in half*. Flour a work surface and roll out the first dough half into a rectangle roughly the size of the baking sheet, transfer it to the parchment. Top the pizza sparsely first with the cheese (little chunks about 2 inches apart), then fill in first with chopped tomato and then basil. Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt and zest about a third of the lemon peel lightly over the pie. You will think, how will this cover the dough? But it will. Trust me.
Put the pizza on the verrrry bottom rack of the oven, and begin rolling out and topping the second pie. After about 15 minutes, your first margherita pizza will be crunchy and perfect! Put the second one in while you eat the first (great for a first course while entertaining - we save the second pizza for leftovers).
*I have used this same dough recipe to make the usual Don Pepino and Kraft shredded Italian cheeses for the girls. The high oven temp cooks the cheese long before the crust gets, well, crusty and crisp, but the girls don't seem to mind. For this type of pizza, I might recommend a lower temp (450) to give the dough a time to crisp up.
JBL's life ambitions have taken him, among other places, on the roller coaster highs and lows of the tech business. During these times we squandered many a fantastic vintage, over pizza for instance, for the simple reason that we could. Also because we had the world at our feet. And we had the rest of our lives ahead of us.
But then there were the not-so-good times (hello, 1999). We sacrificed many things, but wine was never on the list. These were times when JBL perfected the purchase of the Case of Wines Under $10. One shining star of this more frugal time is the Montes Malbec. This Chilean take on a Bordeaux varietal is intense and plummy and spicy and wonderful. See how technical I can be? I am aware that I do winespeak a disservice, but I know a flexible player when I taste one.
So the Malbec. We enjoyed a bottle over the past two evenings with two verrry different meals, and enjoyed it immeasurably with both. First up, an Asian tour de force, a black cod dish with two sauces. The flavors exploded off the plate and brought out the wine's ability to match spice, and to counter heat. Amazing. We literally took a sip after a bite of fish, and looked at each other with a 'wow' look.
But tonight the leftover paired equally well with a pizza that I have been craving for weeks. Margherita. Perhaps it was the stint of unseasonably warm weather we've enjoyed of late. Maybe it was a desire for something light and, well, un-meat-related. Whatever the cause, I have been fantasizing about this dish, and after J went to bed tonight we quenched my thirst. Last summer we tried various permutations, and I finally hit it out of the park with this latest recipe. And the Malbec? It stepped back and offered restrained fruity notes in support of the more subtle flavors, acting more like a soft Chianti than a powerhouse super-Tuscan.
So go buy the Montes. You will not be disappointed. And if you want the margherita recipe, here it is:
Pizza Dough (sorry if I posted this already - this is a Giada De Laurentiis recipe)
3/4 C warm water (105-115 degrees F)
1 envelope active dry yeast
2+ C AP flour
1 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt (I use fine sea salt)
3 TBSP olive oil
Warm the water in the microwave (I run mine on high for 30 seconds to get to the required temperature), and whisk in the yeast. Let stand for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, lightly oil a large bowl. In a food processor, pulse 2 C flour, sugar and salt to combine. After the yeast slurry has bloomed, add it and the 3 TBSP olive oil to the flour mixture, and process til a sticky dough forms. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently til dough is smooth, adding flour by tablespoonfuls if too sticky, about 1 minute. Transfer dough to prepared bowl, turning to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and store in a warm, draft-free area to rise til doubled in size, about an hour. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and prep the pizza topping:
2-ish vine-ripened tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 12 oz. package of fresh mozzarella, cut into 1 inch chunks - you won't use it all
Handful of fresh basil, roughly torn
1 medium lemon (you'll also need a zester or the fine side of a box grater)
Olive oil
Fine sea salt
After the dough has risen, punch it down and divide in half*. Flour a work surface and roll out the first dough half into a rectangle roughly the size of the baking sheet, transfer it to the parchment. Top the pizza sparsely first with the cheese (little chunks about 2 inches apart), then fill in first with chopped tomato and then basil. Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt and zest about a third of the lemon peel lightly over the pie. You will think, how will this cover the dough? But it will. Trust me.
Put the pizza on the verrrry bottom rack of the oven, and begin rolling out and topping the second pie. After about 15 minutes, your first margherita pizza will be crunchy and perfect! Put the second one in while you eat the first (great for a first course while entertaining - we save the second pizza for leftovers).
*I have used this same dough recipe to make the usual Don Pepino and Kraft shredded Italian cheeses for the girls. The high oven temp cooks the cheese long before the crust gets, well, crusty and crisp, but the girls don't seem to mind. For this type of pizza, I might recommend a lower temp (450) to give the dough a time to crisp up.
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